SEQUIM — The Sequim School Board general election appears to be settled with the first count of ballots with large leads by the top candidates.
Heather Short and William Payne are likely headed to the Nov. 3 general election for director Position 5 after the first ballot count in Clallam and Jefferson counties Tuesday and a second Jefferson County count Wednesday.
Short received 3,530 votes, or 56.9 percent, while Payne had 1,536 votes, or 24.76 percent, and appeared to be headed to the Nov. 3 general election.
Charles Meyer trailed with 1,138 votes, or 18.34 percent.
There were 6,204 votes counted in the first tally, including district voters in both Jefferson and Clallam counties.
The two candidates who have the most votes when the elections are certified Aug. 18 will move on to the general election.
On Tuesday night, the Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 11,457 out of the 43,544 ballots mailed to registered voters for a voter turnout of 26.32 percent.
Auditor Shoona Riggs said the office has about 2,000 on hand that were not counted. She expects between 1,000 and 2,000 more to arrive this week. The next count is Friday.
On Wednesday, Jefferson County counted an additional 472 ballots.
In the school district, ballots were mailed to 21,996 Clallam County voters and to 287 Jefferson County voters.
Current board member Walter Johnson is completing a four-year term and chose not to run for re-election.
Short, 38, is a veterinarian and owner of Sequim Animal Hospital, and the campaign has been her first run for a public office.
School district bond
However, the runup to the general election will not be her priority as she campaigns for the school district’s $49.3 million construction bond to add classrooms and renovate aging buildings.
The proposed bond measure will be on the November ballot
“My next step is to register voters. Getting the bond passed is more important than my own personal achievements,” Short said.
If the measure garners a 60 percent supermajority — the amount needed for passage — the bond money would go toward building a new elementary school, renovating and expanding four existing facilities, and demolishing a fifth one.
Payne said he would be working hard to get his message out to the voters in the next three months and to get voters out to the polls.
Payne supports bond
He has also said that, while he has no children in the district, he supports its construction bond.
Payne, 58, is an attorney and has served as the appointed Clallam County prosecuting attorney.
He was defeated in two previous attempts to run for office — for Clallam County prosecuting attorney in 2014 and Clallam County Superior Court judge in 2012.
Meyer said he had seen the early results of the initial primary vote and congratulated Short and Payne.
Meyer, 64, is a retired chief of an organization within the National Security Agency.
He has never before run for public office and said he is available to the School Board to volunteer.
Sequim School District director positions have four-year terms, with a maximum annual compensation of $4,800.
Director Position 1
Although there were four candidates on the ballot for the School Board director Position 1, two candidates dropped out after the deadline to remove their names from the ballot.
The two remaining candidates were neck-and-neck Tuesday, with less than one percentage point between them.
Incumbent Heather Jeffers received 1,812 votes, or 35.87 percent of the vote and Robin Henrikson had 1,783 votes, or 35.29 percent of votes.
Jeffers and Henrikson will both appear on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election.
There were 5,052 votes cast in the race, including votes from both Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Remaining votes were cast for the two withdrawn candidates, Rebecca Bratsman and Willard Naslund.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
